


A Legend Begins to Unfold...

by volleydorkscentral



Series: Pokémon!AU (title tbd) [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Akaashi has a little Alolan Vulpix, Alternate Universe - Pokemon, Bokuto has a baby Rowlet, Gen, This was just supposed to be a cute short story but I am incapable of writing short things, so now its a series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-27 20:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30128406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volleydorkscentral/pseuds/volleydorkscentral
Summary: Bokuto and Akaashi set out on their adventures as Pokémon trainers! They must learn how to work together with their partners: training, battling, understanding, and caring for them. Not everything is about battling, though, and together they navigate this new journey, making decisions that might be felt for years to come.
Series: Pokémon!AU (title tbd) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217363
Comments: 15
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Welcome to the world of POKÉMON! This world is inhabited by creatures called POKÉMON! For some people, POKEMON are pets. Others use them for fights. A world of dreams and adventures with POKEMON awaits! Let's go!"
> 
> The journey begins! Bokuto and Akaashi begin to navigate the world of Pokémon with their chosen partners, learning how to battle, raise, and care for them. There's more to training Pokémon than just battling, and the bonds they form with each other and their Pokémon could change their entire lives.

At twelve, Akaashi passed his Pokémon trainer qualification test on the first try.

At thirteen, Bokuto had failed five times.

“Kou,” Akaashi said, his tone already disapproving as he read over Bokuto’s test results, “you’ve got to be kidding me.”—Bokuto watched him try not to roll his eyes—“For _What would you do if faced with an Electabuzz in battle?_ you put _try to give it food_.”

Bokuto looked away, rolling onto his back in the grass of the little clearing they were sitting in. He threw his arm over his eyes to block out the heat of the strengthening springtime sun and groaned. “I _know_ … I just get so freaked out when it’s all written down like that.”

Clicking his tongue, Akaashi read another question aloud, “ _Which of these is a real evolution stone? Fire Stone, Dragon Stone, Color Stone, or Lunar Stone?_ ” He paused and Bokuto was so embarrassed he tried to melt into the grass. With as much disdain as he could muster, he said, “You picked _dragon stone_.”

“Ugh!” Bokuto threw himself up, pushing his hands through his hair in frustration. “I know it’s not real but it sounds like it’d be so cool! I wanted it to be real. I just got excited!”

Now Akaashi did roll his eyes—just a little. “I keep telling you: think before you answer.” For months Akaashi had been not only studying himself for his exam but also helping Bokuto study. This involved various colored marbles they’d assigned Pokémon types to and a game where they tried to pick the correct battle match-up the fastest; a mountain of flashcards that Akaashi used at home and then bombarded Bokuto with while they ate lunch; and a lot of assigned reading that Akaashi gave to Bokuto then quizzed him on to try and get him to think critically about things.

It wasn’t that Bokuto was bad at these things—it’s just that he wasn’t good at pen and paper tests. He never had been. Especially when it was timed and there was a proctor walking the aisles between the desks with their clipped steps distracting him and the other kids scribbling things on the paper and it made Bokuto think that he should be writing more but he couldn’t think of anything else and besides they might not be on the same question and he started to overthink things and get worried that he was misreading the questions and—

“Kou,” Akaashi said with a sigh. “Look. You can try again, of course. There’s another test next season. We’ll study and next time you just have to—”

“Think about it. I know, I know.” He looked away, dropping his eyes so he didn’t see Akaashi’s frown—a little disappointed, a little pitying. The trainer qualification tests took place once every three months, the start of each season on the first of the month. The next test would take place at the start of summer, just three months from now.

 _Would that be enough time?_ Bokuto thought. He stuck his hand out and Akaashi’s Pokémon, a pale white Vulpix he’d named Keo, turned her face up and let him scratch her under her chin. She was always cool to the touch, and if he stuck his fingers deep in her powdery fur he could feel tiny ice crystals. She purred a little as he found her favorite spot, her soft blue eyes closing in pleasure. “Wait, don’t you need to be leaving? Start your own… adventure and all that?”

“Hm? Oh.” He’d been scowling over Bokuto’s test paper again, but looked up at the question. “No, I thought I’d save money for a while. I’ve got to go and buy supplies next week, but then… well, I thought I’d wait for you, too.” He smiled, and if Keo hadn’t shaken her fur out and dropped little bits of snow around them Bokuto would have said his body warmed considerably at the sight of Akaashi smiling at him. It always did.

“Wait for me?” he replied tentatively. Bokuto was a whole year behind everyone else. Most of his friends had left already, barring the younger ones like Akaashi and a few from the next town over. “You don’t have to do that. What if it takes me another year to pass?”

Akaashi shrugged, his frown all but gone now, lips pulled up at the corners. He reached down and Keo bumped her head against his hand so he would pet her. “That just gives me more time to save up then, doesn’t it? We’ve been together pretty much our whole lives—why would I suddenly leave you? We should at least start this journey together. I’d like that, anyway.”

“I’d like that, too, Keiji.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Isn’t that right?” This last bit was directed at his Vulpix as he pushed his fingers into her ruff and gave her a vigorous rub that had her making little play noises and bouncing away once he’d released her. Almost a year ago Akaashi had received a package from his cousin who lived across the continent, and inside it had been a pale blue egg touched with a white so soft it looked like the clouds had come down to press themselves into the shell. Akaashi carried the egg around for weeks under his shirt or carefully nestled in his bag. He and Bokuto had spent days upon days trying to guess what would come out of it because the note his cousin attached had only said: _Keep it close to you; when it hatches you’ll have a friend for life._

And one morning, before the sun was even properly above the horizon, Akaashi had raced down the street to Bokuto’s house and climbed the trellis outside his house, tumbling in through Bokuto’s bedroom window in his excitement to show Bokuto that it was starting to hatch. It was a long process, and twice Bokuto had to stop Akaashi from peeling away pieces of eggshell in his impatience. They sat on Bokuto’s bed, both hunched over the egg Akaashi cradled in his lap until it seemed to dissolve into a spiderweb of cracks and fell apart—all at once, it seemed—revealing the tiny, pale form of a baby fox in his lap. Akaashi had looked starstruck, but even Bokuto could see the instant and all-consuming love he had for the little creature.

Back then she’d had one large, fat tail that felt wispy when they touched it, chilled like a blast of cold air; but as she’d grown it had split and now was two distinct, curly tufts. After some research, Akaashi had declared that it would grow to six as she aged and gained levels—and eventually many more if she ever evolved.

“Let me keep this,” Akaashi said, folding Bokuto’s test paper and sliding it into his bag, “and I’ll see if I can think of another way to help you. Maybe it’ll be best if I just make you a bunch of practice tests.”

Bokuto didn’t want to take even more written tests, but he mumbled, “If that’s what you think is best…”

Shrugging, Akaashi didn’t answer as he rearranged the papers in his bag. Bokuto was about to ask if they should go back home for lunch, but suddenly Keo whipped her head around, both of her tails standing up at attention as she glared into the edge of the forest. Bokuto and Akaashi exchanged nervous glances. It wasn’t often that packs of wild Pokémon came through the little secluded clearing they’d found, but when they did it was usually best to leave and come back later—at least for now since Bokuto had no Pokémon of his own and Keo was very small and could easily be outnumbered and overwhelmed. Akaashi moved to crouch beside her, resting one hand on her back as she growled. “What is it?” he asked softly, staring off in the same direction she was. “I don’t see—”

There was a commotion at the tree line, the sound of rustling and barking, then a tiny brown blur darted out of the bushes and across the grass. Behind it were five larger gray shapes which, after a confused moment of staring, Bokuto recognized as a hunting pack of Poochyenas. He knew from his readings that they would chase their prey for days if they could, letting them exhaust themselves before the pack pounced. He knew that a lot of Pokémon had a predator-prey relationship—circle of life and all that—but something about seeing it right in front of him hurt him in a way he hadn’t expected.

So, like he always did, he rushed in without thinking, shouting and waving his arms as he approached the quickly moving pack. “Hey, stop that! Go get your lunch somewhere else!” They were moving toward each other, so it didn’t take long for Bokuto to reach them.

He heard Akaashi shout his name behind him, but didn’t stop running.

One of the dogs snarled at him, barking ferociously, its tail puffed up in intimidation. But Bokuto was bigger and stronger than it, and so he did the only thing he could think of at that moment—he kicked out at it. Not hard, and his foot didn’t even make contact; but it leapt backward with a surprised bark and growled, baring fangs that looked especially pointy.

Bokuto stood his ground even as the other four turned their glares on him, too. “Come on! Pick on someone your own size.”

The first one jumped, snapping at his ankles. He skittered back, hoping that the little brown blur had escaped. He was just trying to buy it some time. Then he stumbled as another of the dogs launched itself at his chest, throwing him back into the grass and knocking the breath out of him.

Even though his vision was a little spotty and it hurt to breathe, he thrust his arm up and grabbed the Poochyena by the scruff of the neck, just barely missing a bite to the face.

Then Keo was there. She threw herself into the battle and brought gusts of ice-cold wind with her. In only a few moments the Poochyena—even though they had the advantage of numbers—realized that their prey was lost and this new prey was putting up a fight, so they turned tail and ran, loping away and vanishing into the forest. Keo snorted out a puff of frosty breath as if to say, _And don’t come back!_

“Koutarou!” Akaashi dropped beside him, helping him to sit up. “Are you crazy?” He sounded angry. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he said quickly, then coughed as his lungs protested the use of air. It hurt, he’d probably bruised his back, and he knew he’d gotten a few scratches on his legs and arms from the Poochyena’s teeth and claws. He twisted, grunting in pain, searching out the little brown blur. He pushed away Akaashi’s hands and stumbled up, almost tripping before he found his feet, and walked carefully over to where he saw a tiny figure hunched in the grass. As he got closer, he realized it was a little bird, using its wings to cover itself and shaking so badly Bokuto could see it from where he stood. Crouching, he was careful not to touch it in case he startled it.

“Hey there,” he said gently. It still scared the little Pokémon, but it looked up with wide, round eyes. The leaves on its chest were torn and withered yellow. “It’s okay,” Bokuto whispered, holding out one hand to try and coax it to calmness. “They’re gone.”

The little Pokémon twisted its head, surveying the field, then, startled, it took three giant hops and flapped itself into Bokuto’s arms, tunneling up under his shirt. He could feel it shaking and the pathetic cooing sounds it made against his belly. He stood, curling his hands around it to protect it, and turned to see Akaashi and Keo hanging back, watching closely.

“What is it?” Akaashi called, his voice pitched softer to not scare it.

Bokuto had to think—there were a lot of Pokémon, after all—but the name came to him quickly. He pulled his collar open to look down at it, a pang in his chest when he saw little drops of blood and bent feathers on its back. “A baby Rowlet. I think it’s hurt.”

“I’m not surprised.” Akaashi came and peeked down Bokuto’s shirt, too, his mouth twisting as he saw its injuries. “I don’t have any potions or anything.” Then, quieter, as he nudged Keo away from sniffing at Bokuto’s shirt. “No, girl, down. It’s scared.”

“Oh!” Bokuto was whispering. “Hey, could Keo could find some berries? He might like that.”

Nodding, Akaashi waved a hand at Keo. “Think you can find some? Go on, now. Hurry. Don’t go far, though.” Keo looked determined as she bounded off into the forest.

“He looks so small,” Bokuto whispered, stroking the Rowlet through his t-shirt. “I bet he only hatched a few days ago.”

“He?”

“I think it’s a he. I feel like I saw a female in a picture once and it had different markings. A Pokédex could tell me for sure.” Rowlet nuzzled his beak against Bokuto’s belly and let out a trilling sigh. His body was relaxing and he had stopped shivering with fear. “I bet his nest is nearby.”

Akaashi’s gaze traveled over the tree-line with a scowl, but he nodded. “It can’t be far. He was running—and usually, they fly.”

“His wings look pretty tiny.” Bokuto agreed, and they began picking their way back in the direction Rowlet and the Poochyena pack had come from, careful of running into the dogs again. The trees were small and spindly, none of them could support the nest of an owl so, even though they were both wary of wandering deeper into the forest, they walked on, both aware of how loud they were and the myriad of Pokémon that could attack them.

Keo returned with a branch of fat, juicy Oran berries on a branch and they stopped so Bokuto could try and coax Rowlet out of his shirt to eat one.

“Come on,” he said gently, rubbing his finger over Rowlet’s head. “This is yummy, and it’ll make you feel better.” It took a few minutes, but eventually, Rowlet extended a leg, little claws searching, and Bokuto pressed a berry into it before the claw vanished under his shirt again. He could feel Rowlet shifting against his belly, nibbling on the berry. Grinning at Akaashi he whispered, “I think he likes it.”

Akaashi smiled back, plucking the berries off the branch and giving one to Keo before dropping them into a small pouch that was tied onto his bag. “Good. Hopefully, it can recover any health it lost in that chase. It’s so small… I can’t imagine it would need more than one berry unless it’s just hungry.”

“I’ve got onigiri at home.”

Akaashi made a face. “While Pokémon _can_ eat human food, I’m not sure you should just take a wild one home.”

“But,” Bokuto knew he sounded a little whiney, “he likes me.”

After studying him and the little wiggling bundle under his shirt, Akaashi turned toward the trees. “Let’s keep searching.”

They walked on, studying the ground and the leaves for signs of a chase, but didn’t see anything until Keo stood with her paws on a tree and yipped. Looking up, Bokuto could see branches sticking out of a hole in the trunk. It wasn’t tall, and he was able to stuff his shirt into his pants to keep Rowlet safe as he jumped up and pulled himself onto the branch, doing his best not to crush the little owl.

“Is this your home?” he asked, poking Rowlet gently to get his attention. The owl popped his head out of Bokuto’s collar, hooting and trilling, then nearly knocking Bokuto out of the tree as he flailed in excitement and scrambled out of his shirt, hopping to the nest. He poked around the space, his excited chirps fading out into sad little coos. The nest had been ravaged by something, some other Pokémon that had ripped the downy feathers up and knocked half of it to the ground.

Bokuto leaned over, looking down at Akaashi with wide, worried eyes. They could read each other pretty well, so he knew Akaashi understood his silent statement: _he’s all alone_.

And he understood Akaashi’s frowning reply, _He’s a wild Pokémon and you don’t even have a Poké ball or anything_.

“Hey, buddy,” Bokuto said gently to the Rowlet, who turned his head around almost completely to look at him. “If you want… you can come home with me.” He wasn’t sure if Rowlet could understand his words, but he held his hand out and spoke softly, putting as much kindness into his tone as possible. Rowlet looked at his hand. Twisted his head back to poke around his nest again. He trilled sadly then turned and hopped into Bokuto’s hand—he was so little he fit right in Bokuto’s palm.

He smiled to himself, holding Rowlet against his chest as he carefully dropped back to the ground, then stood grinning and petting the Rowlet.

“Well,” Akaashi said after a moment of observation, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “you might not be a trainer yet, but you’ve certainly found a friend. Come on, let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, two of my favorite nerd things collide! Haikyuu and Pokémon! I've been a fan of Pokémon since I was a very tiny child, so this was a lot of fun to write. It got out of control and is now 40k or so... just for their adventures as kids LOL. There will be a Part 2 later on that I'm still writing where the world opens up and the boys grow into adulthood.
> 
> Also, for anyone who follows me... I've been relatively quiet the last year or so because I've been working on many things! I've been writing more original content and planning out a novel, plus I've been working on a few new fics! Planning mostly, but what has taken up _most_ of my creative energy is a new sci-fi fic!  
> It's long. It's complicated. It's big enough that I wanted to have it completely finished before I posted any of it. I hope to have it finished in the next few months, so please look for it soon :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi and Bokuto go shopping with their new Poké partners!

Over the course of the next week, Bokuto learned many things about his new friend.

One, that Rowlet was a voracious eater. He not only devoured the PokéFood that Bokuto bought at the local market, but after he'd finished his own meals, he would also sit in Bokuto's lap and try to intercept Bokuto's food, too. Several times Bokuto lost half his meals because he wasn’t paying attention and walked away from the table to get something.

Two, that he was mostly a nocturnal creature. The first night he slept for hours and hours, but Bokuto chalked that up to exhaustion and injury, his little body having to heal itself. Every night after that Bokuto was woken up several times a night by Rowlet's restless hooting and hopping around his room. He would rip up papers and throw pencils and pens about with unabashed glee, scratched tears in Bokuto's curtains when he wanted to see the sky outside, but Bokuto was asleep and couldn't open them. On the fourth night, Bokuto finally found a solution and dug out the old toys he had when he was a toddler, little stackable blocks and buildable mix-and-match toys that Bokuto presented to him—the smallest pieces kept in storage so Rowlet wouldn't accidentally eat them. Bokuto watched happily as Rowlet built tiny, off-kilter cities with the blocks and then gleefully smashed it to pieces with his wings and kicks.

Three, that he was a playful, curious creature. If there was something new to him he wouldn't hesitate and would wander up to it, trying to figure out what it was or what it did. The first time Bokuto turned on his television Rowlet had hopped over to it and pecked at the screen, hooting at the people and Pokémon on the screen, clearly annoyed that they weren't paying him any mind. Bokuto showed him they weren't real, were just on the television, and after that Rowlet would sit in front of the screen staring at the pictures, fascinated. He watched an entire movie about men in tights and was overjoyed with the archer character, so Bokuto had started calling him Robin, after the character. ( _Technically_ , he thought, _his name will be Robin Hoot once I get a Pokédex!_ When he told Akaashi, he had not found that as amusing as Bokuto thought he should have.)

Four, that even though Robin was brave and curious, he was also a bit faint-of-heart. He startled easily and when that happened he would let out a screech and the feathers on his wings would turn sharp like razors as a natural way of protecting himself—Bokuto hadn't known this the first time he'd accidentally scared him and suffered a few cuts on his hands for it. Robin clearly felt bad for doing it and spent the next few hours cuddled up with him nuzzling his cheek and cooing sadly.

When he did sleep, if they weren't at Bokuto's house he liked to curl up under Bokuto's shirt where it was dark and warm, and Bokuto started carrying around an extra jacket to cover him up with during his naps. When they were home he nested on the corner of the bed and slept like a rock.

During the day Bokuto and Akaashi would spend time together, alternatively studying and playing with their Pokémon or wandering aimlessly through the fields and forests behind their small town. Robin and Keo got along splendidly. While the humans were studying, the Pokémon would scamper through the grass chasing one another, taking turns playing some game that Akaashi and Bokuto couldn't fathom the rules of, but it seemed to make them happy. Keo would sometimes make a tiny puddle of fat, fluffy snow around her and delight in watching Robin hop through it, leaving footprints in little circles. Then they would wrestle in the snow until it melted and they were both covered in mud. Keo also made little balls of ice that Robin liked to pretend was prey, leaping on it and shrieking as he attacked it with kicks and pecks.

One day—after baths for both Pokémon that they did not enjoy but Bokuto and Akaashi insisted upon—they took the train to the closest city so that Akaashi could spend his savings on equipment and Bokuto could dream about when he could do it, too. The department store was multileveled and enormous, and in order to not get lost Akaashi carried Keo while Robin sat perched on Bokuto's shoulder (sometimes it was his shoulder, more often it was his head, though) as they wandered through the floors and shops. Akaashi had several goals for this shopping trip, but he had one that was more important than any other.

They found it on the eighth floor, tucked into a corner with a single shop owner and a hundred versions of Pokédexes in boxes and displayed along the walls and countertops. Years ago they were rare, and it was only a select few trainers who received a Pokédex, but recently they’d been produced en masse so that any trainer could afford one on a child's allowance. They weren't cheap, and Bokuto knew that Akaashi would be dropping most of his money on this device, but it was the most important.

"Excuse me," Akaashi said to the man behind the counter, who looked up at them and smiled. "I'd like to buy one, please." He gestured to the cases with his chin since his hands were occupied by Keo.

The man stood and moved over to them, leaning on the counter and grinning. "First time?"

"Yes, sir."

He nodded. "Always good to see the next generation." He studied them, Akaashi and Keo, before nodding to himself. "Well, there's a few different kinds, what are you looking for?"

Akaashi hesitated, his eyes skirting over the many devices with uncertainty.

"What do you need it to do? Other than the obvious," the man clarified.

Akaashi thought a moment, carefully setting Keo down between his feet and pointing at her until she sat, safe from passers-by. “Communication, I guess. Maps. I take a lot of notes so... that would be nice.”

The man nodded, turning away and going through a few boxes before picking one out and showing it to Akaashi. “This is a more modern model. Touch screen and stylus so you can write on it. It can send video messages and make calls. Of course, it comes with all the necessities for being a trainer: identification, information, data keeping, all that.”

Even Bokuto was impressed and leaned over to see the box too. He wondered what sort of Dex he would get when it came to it. If it did. But if he never managed to pass his test…

He stepped back, turning to watch the streams of people walking past and trying to ignore the painful knot that threatened to make him throw up. Moving away, he reached up and plucked Robin from his shoulder to hold him against his chest as he walked down the aisle. Everything here was tempting him, whether because of the bright colors, the inherent usefulness of an item, or the fact that he simply couldn’t have them. Or, he _could_ but they would be useless until he had a reason to use them. A reason like battles, traveling, and training. Journeying with his Pokémon and his friend. His chest hurt. His throat was tight. He _wanted_ it so bad.

Robin chirped at him, turning his head up and nipping at his chin.

“You want to go too, huh?” He hugged Robin closer and the little owl snuggled against him—he was warm and soft, and Bokuto could feel his body practically vibrating with excitement. “Me too, buddy, me too. Someday soon, okay?”

“Bo!”

He turned to see Akaashi winding through the crowd to catch up to him, Keo right on his heels.

“Did you get one you liked?”

Akaashi smiled at him. “Yeah, and I found something we both need to get. Come on.” He pulled on Bokuto’s sleeve and guided them back to a booth that was right in the middle of the room. “You might not be able to _battle_ or anything, but you’ve got to have a ball for him, right?” he asked, gesturing to the myriad of Poké balls the booth was offering.

They weren’t just the regular offerings, though there were boxes and boxes of the red, blue, and yellow basic balls on the shelves. This was a specialty shop, with a few crafters making Poké balls on the spot and displaying more of the same. They were all sorts of colors and designs, some simple and some complicated: completely translucent, down to the inner workings; green and brown, with small leaves painted around the outside; deep, oceanic blue, partway transparent so the user could see the tiny ocean trapped inside; pink and purple and blue, shimmering like moonlight; inky black, dark shadows gliding over the smooth surface; brown and tan like the desert, small sandstorms visible inside. Dozens of unique balls that would entice the creatures captured in them to curl up and stay awhile.

“Oh!” Bokuto said with genuine surprise. “Those are cool.”

“We need to find one for each of them.” Akashi reached out and stroked a finger over Robin’s head.

One of the shop’s purveyors motioned them forward, looking at Keo and Robin in turn. “One each? Starting your Pokémon journey, boys?”

Bokuto’s stomach turned, but Akaashi said, “Soon, yes. Can we get extra Poké balls here?”

“Of course, any kind you like.”

Akaashi glanced at Bokuto. “Well, what do you think?”

“Uh…” he hesitated, unsure. “Why don’t you pick?” He said this to Robin as he moved closer to the counter. “You’ll have to live in it, after all.” He paused as the owl stared at him. “Sometimes.” Robin clicked his beak. “Okay, only, like, a few times. For safety.”

Robin nipped his finger before turning away and hopping out of his arms to land on the counter. The man grinned at him and held out a treat he pulled from his pocket which Robin ate and then moved over to allow himself to be petted.

“Lively little thing you’ve got here, kid,” the man said, chuckling as Bokuto rubbed his throbbing finger with a scowl. “Well—go on, fella.” He gestured to the balls scattered around the counter.

Robin cocked his head, then turned his attention to them, hopping to and fro and poking a few of them with a claw as if testing them.

While he searched, Akaashi studied a few himself, then plucked a pale white ball from a display, studying it.

“Best for ice-types,” the man told him. “Your little Vulpix would like it. Once inside, it creates an environment suited to them—that would be tundras of snow and ice glaciers.”

Akaashi flipped the ball open, but inside it just looked like all the others—the frame and shape of the ball laced with technology. “How?”

The man winked at him. “Trade secret.”

Akaashi made a face at that, but nodded and said, “I’ll take one for her, then. And…” He pulled out his wallet, counting his money and doing some quick calculations. “Seven regular Poké balls.”

“I’ll get you a new one.” The man smiled, glanced at Robin—who was still poking around, studying each of the different balls—then turned to the shelves behind the counter, digging for a new version of the snowy ball.

Bokuto poked Robin in the wing. “Come on, dude, don’t make a mess.” He said this because he kept having to catch balls that Robin would knock off displays and hold them until he was past that part of the counter. Some people were watching this process with laughter, but Bokuto didn’t care, he was just wishing Robin would pick one already because he was worried Robin would break one of the display balls and he would have to pay for it! Finally, Robin stopped at one of the glass-like, clear balls. He picked it up with one claw and seemed to study it with interest while Bokuto quickly replaced the other balls in his arms.

“Don’t scratch it.” He scolded the little owl, taking the ball away from him. “This one, then?”

Robin trilled his happy affirmative.

When the man returned, handing Akaashi a small bag with his purchases, he said, “Your Rowlet likes to be a part of everything, doesn’t he?”

“You’ve got no idea,” Bokuto said.

Afterward, they went to a rooftop courtyard and sat in the grass with the bento boxes they’d brought for lunch, letting Robin soak up the sun and Keo curl up to take a nap under Akaashi’s coat. Akaashi ate one-handed while he unboxed his new Pokédex. It was one of the models that pulled out into a larger, notebook-sized tablet that he could write on, but otherwise, it was a small handheld device barely bigger than Akaashi’s hand.

“Okay, Keo,” he said, gently prodding her awake. “Time to test this out.”

She raised her head, blinking sleepily, yawned once, then reached a paw up and touched the Poké ball—all very nonchalant about it. Her body flicked into a soft blue glow and vanished into the ball, which clicked once and settled in Akaashi’s palm. When he turned it, Bokuto could see that the top became transparent—or at least partly—so he could see that Keo had immediately curled up in a pile of snow and gone right back to sleep. Immediately, the Pokédex chimed its acceptance of the new species, and Akaashi tapped the screen to pull up the data.

“Oh,” he muttered to himself and pointed at the _Date of Capture_ and _Captured at…_ information that showed the current day and city they were in. “That’s wrong. I’ll have to edit those.”

“It’s not hard is it?”

“I don’t think so.” They both leaned over as the information filled out. Height, weight, basic stats like attack, defense, speed, and the like, a type effectiveness chart for her specifically, her current level, an experience meter, a list of moves she could learn, and known technical machine moves that could be taught to her. Akaashi let out a low whistle. “That’s comprehensive.”

Bokuto was immediately filled with a fit of all-consuming jealousy. “Yeah,” he said, leaning back. “It’ll really help with training I bet.”

Akaashi made an affirmative noise as he scrolled through the information. “I’m not surprised she’s only level eight. I’ve had her a year but we don’t really train or anything.”

Bokuto tugged Robin into his lap and hugged him. “That can change, though. You can start. I saw a store downstairs that had a bunch of training items, too.” Aside from battling to gain experience, trainers could put their Pokémon through other types of training—agility, target practice, strength training, anything, really, that would help that Pokémon grow to their full potential. Bokuto had read once that anything the trainer puts their Pokémon through, they should also do since trainers were the ones that gave orders during a battle and didn’t get hurt themselves. It was about showing their Pokémon that they were going to work just as hard to become stronger. Not everyone did this, Bokuto knew that, but he knew that was the type of trainer he wanted to be. And the thought suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea what type of trainer Akaashi wanted to be.

“True. We’ll have to check that out before we leave. It says she knows _Ice Shard_.” He took a bite of his food, chewing in contemplation. “It makes sense, she makes those little ice crystals all the time—I just didn’t think that it was an actual learned move. She can throw them like darts though, so maybe I’ll get some of those little throwing targets so she can practice hitting them.” He was quiet while he finished his next bite. “What about him?”

Bokuto looked down at Robin in his lap, and Robin stared back at him as if to say, _I’m not getting in that tiny thing_.

“Oh, come on,” Bokuto said, pulling the ball out of his pocket. “It’s supposed to make you an”—he had to check the packaging to remember the words—“ _ideal environment suited to each individual’s needs_. You’ll like it. Look how happy Keo is.”

Robin turned his head away from him, hooting in indignation.

“It’s not like it’s a hovel!”

Robin hopped away, hiding behind Akaashi, who laughed. “I don’t think he likes it, Kou.”

Bokuto rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Then, muttering, he added, “Big baby.”

Akaashi put an arm around Robin and hugged him while he giggled. “A bit like his trainer, hm?”

Bokuto scoffed and threw pieces of carrot at him. “Don’t you start, Keiji.”


End file.
